Autism and technology

Research article by Shekhar Mukherji and Herculano Castro

In spite of great improvements in early diagnosis and interventions, most children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are unlikely to live independently when they reach adulthood. Research on novel computer-based interventions with the goal of promoting social skills has proven that these can play a crucial role in developing activities aimed at increasing pro-social behaviors such as collaboration and coordination, augmented appreciation for social activities, and providing individuals with novel forms of expression. The past ten years have seen a great increase in the number of computer-based interventions. For example, Piper et al. [21] designed a tabletop application for children with ASD in the form of a four-player cooperative game. The authors found the game provided students with an engaging experience for group work, something they usually find challenging. Hendrix et al. [13] studied the design of a tangible tabletop application to engage shy or socially withdrawn children in games by giving them roles that encouraged other children to engage with them in a positive manner with promising results. Gal et al. [9] conducted a three-week study with six children diagnosed with ASD (aged 8-10) using Story Table, software implemented on a DiamondTouch multitouch surface that used enforced collaboration in the context of storytelling. They observed an increase in children’s responses to peers, with more positive affect, and greater likelihood to express emotions. Multitouch tablets have the potential of providing similar advantages to tabletop displays in terms of encouraging pro-social behaviour through sharing an interactive surface, while providing advantages in terms of cost, availability, flexibility of use and mobility. They can also enable additional social behaviors such as passing the device to a partner. Tangible technologies have also been used to encourage social interactions. For example, Farr et al. [7] used Topobo and LEGO toys with groups of children with ASD and noted the differences in playing styles, finding that Topobo led to more social forms of play. Somewhat related are interventions that use robots to encourage social interactions [8, 22]. Some mobile technologies have been designed to support and encourage communication with others. For example, Madsen et al. [18] use mobile computers loaded with software that automatically classifies emotions on human faces. Tentori and Hayes have also proposed mobile devices to support social activities in school and other controlled environments [24]. Less sophisticated approaches include speech-generating devices (e.g. DynaVox) that use picture communication symbols or text and are very costly but have shown promising results for some children [2]. There are also technologies that blend into children’s everyday environments and support them while not getting in the way of engaging with others. Hayes et al. [12], for example, studied the use of computer-based visual supports for communication, scheduling and recording of images for children with ASD. Hirano et al. [15] expanded on the scheduling system called vSked, which replaces the paper-based visual schedules that are commonly used in classrooms with children with ASD. The goal of the system was to mimic these paper systems while reducing teacher burden and automatically generating records and reports. The system was evaluated in a classroom with nine children with ASD (aged 8-10) and was well received by teachers, students and other stakeholders. Other research on embedded or pervasive approaches to support children with autism has involved tools that help keep track of children’s behavior [1, 11, 17, 25] and that encourage certain behaviors [20]. Finally, there has been a wide set of computer interventions that work with traditional desktop or laptop setups and have led to positive results in areas such as building vocabulary, encouraging vocalizations, and learning about appropriate forms of communication [3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 14, 16, 19, 26]. These desktop or laptop-based technologies are generally intended for individual use, potentially limiting social interactions while they are being used, while in other cases interactions with another person are accomplished through the computer [23].

References:

1. Abinali F, Goodwin MS and Intile S (2009) Recognizing stereotypical motor movements in the laboratory and classroom: a case study with children on the autism spectrum. UbiComp 2009:71-80.
2. Binger C (2008) Classroom-Based Language Goals and Intervention for Children Who Use AAC: Back to Basics. Perspectives on Augmentative and Alternative Communication 17:20-26.
3. Bosseler A, Massaro DW (2003) Development and evaluation of a computer-animated tutor for vocabulary and language learning in children with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 33(6):653-669.
4. Coleman-Martin MB, Wolff-Heller K, Cihak DF, Irvine KL (2005) Using computer assisted instruction and the nonverbal reading approach to teach word identification. Focus Autism Other Dev Disabl 20:80-90.
5. Davis M, Dautenhahn K, Nehaniv C, Powell S (2006) Touchstory: Towards an interactive learning environment for helping children with autism to understand narrative. In: Designing Accessible Technology. Springer, London.
6. Faja S, Aylward E, Bernier R, Dawson G (2008) Becoming a face expert: a computerized face-training program for high-functioning individuals with autism spectrum disorders. Developmental Neuropsychology 33(1):1-24.
7. Farr W, Yuill N, Raffle H (2010) Social benefits of a tangible user interface for children with Autistic Spectrum Conditions. Autism. doi:10.1177/1362361310363280
8. Feil-Seifer D, Mataric MJ (2009) Toward socially assistive robotics for augmenting interventions for children with autism spectrum disorders. In Siciliano B, Khatib O, Groen F (eds) Experimental Robotics. Springer, Berlin.
9. Gal E, Bauminger N, Goren-Bar D, Pianesi F, Stock O, Zancanaro M, Weiss PL (2009). Enhancing social communication of children with high-functioning autism through a collocated interface. AI & Soc 24:75-84.
10. Hailpern J, Karahalios K, Halle J (2009) Creating a Spoken Impact: Encouraging Vocalization through Audio Visual Feedback in Children with ASD. Proceedings of CHI 2009:453-462.
11. Hayes GR, Kientz JA, Truiong KN, White DR, Abowd GD, Pering T (2004) Designing Capture Applications to Support the Education of Children with Autism. Ubicomp 2004:161-178.
12. Hayes GR, Hirano S, Marcu G, Monibi M, Nguyen DH, Yeganyan M (2010) Interactive visual supports for children with autism. Pers Ubiquit Comput. doi: 10.1007/s00779-010-0294-8.
13. Hendrix K, van Herk R, Verhaegh J, Markopoulos P (2009). Increasing children’s social competence through games, an exploratory study. Proceedings of IDC 2009:182-185.
14. Hetzroni OE, Tannous J (2004) Effects of Computer-Based Intervention Program on the Communicative Functions of Children with Autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 34(2):95-113.
15. Hirano SH, Yeganyan MT, Marcu G, Nguyen DH, Boyd L, Hayes GR (2010) vSked: evaluation of a system to support classroom activities for children with autism. Proceedings of CHI '10:1633-1642.
16. Keay-Bright W (2007) Can computers create relaxation? Designing ReacTickles software with children on the autistic spectrum. CoDesign 3(2):97-110.
17. Kientz JA, Hayes GR, Westeyn TL, Starner T, Abowd GD (2007) Pervasive Computing and Autism: Assisting Caregivers of Children with Special Needs. IEEE Pervasive Computing 6(1):28-35.
18. Madsen M, el Kaliouby R, Goodwin M, Picard R (2008) Technology for just-in-time-in-situ learning of facial affect for persons diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. Proceedings of Assets '08:19-26.
19. Moore M, Calvert S (2000) Brief Report: Vocabulary Acquisition for Children with Autism: Teacher or Computer Instruction. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 30(4):359-362.
20. Parés N, et al (2005) Promotion of creative activity in children with severe autism through visuals in an interactive multisensory environment. Proceedings of IDC '05:110-116.
21. Piper AM, O’Brien E, Ringel Morris M, Winograd T (2006) SIDES: A cooperative tabletop computer game for social skills development. Proceedings of CSCW 2006:1-10.
22. Robins B, Dickerson P, Stribling P, Dautenhahn K (2004) Robot-mediated joint attention in children with autism: A case study in robot-human interaction. Interaction Studies 5(2):151-198.
23. Tartaro A, Cassell J (2008) Playing with Virtual Peers: Bootstrapping Contingent Discourse in Children with Autism. Proceedings of ICLS 2008.
24. Tentori, M, Hayes, GR (2010) Designing for Interaction Immediacy to Enhance Social Skills of Children with Autism. UbiComp ‘10:51-60.
25. Westeyn TL, Vadas K, Bian X, Starner T, Abowd GD (2005) Recognizing Mimicked Autistic Self-Stimulatory Behaviors Using HMMs. ISWC 2005:164-169.
26. Whalen C, Liden L, Ingersoll B, Dallaire E, Liden S (2006) Behavioral improvements associated with computer-assisted instruction for children with developmental disabilities. The Journal of Speech and Language Pathology 1(1):11-26.

Adapted by Herculano Castro from:

Juan Pablo Hourcade, Natasha E. Bullock-Rest and Thomas E. Hansen: Multitouch Tablet Applications and Activities to Enhance the Social Skills of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Volume 16, Number 2 (2012), 157-168, Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, DOI: 10.1007/s00779-011-0383-3
From the issue entitled "Special Issue on Autism and Technology"

Home | About Us | Specialist Services | Conferences & Research | Staff | Useful Links | Contact Us

Like us or Join us on: Facebook | Linked In

Copyright © Mentaur Ltd 2008

Mentaur Ltd
Registered in England and Wales, No. 2239409
Registered Office: Suite G2, Barratt House, Kingsthorpe Road, Northampton, NN2 6EZ